The blog is up and running again and Tuesday is reader interview day. If you'd like to participate (you know you want to), the details are here. Without further ado, today's interviewee is Lesley W!

1. Tell us a bit about yourself.

Hmm. Okay, I'm in my thirties (and that's as specific as I like to be :) ) and I live in the UK with my cat. I love reading. I guess I'm a frustrated creative type as I'm also trying to write a novel at the moment - which makes me appreciate what authors have to go through. And I also love drawing, painting. I like getting outside and seeing what's out there - love wildlife / birdwatching. LOL. Is that enough, should I stop now?

2. Are you a hoarder or do you give your books away?

I hoard. I'm a terrible obsessive/compulsive. I never want to throw anything away in case it might be useful at a later date. Though I've had a massive spring clean recently which I found very therapeutic.

3. What author might tempt you into turning stalker?

Errmm. Not sure I can talk about that here. :laughs: None of them actually. I don't mean that in an insulting way. But I tend to get tongue-tied and not know what to say. Or babble incoherently which I'm not sure is much better. I'd be happy if I could just strike up a normal conversation at a book signing. Authors that I admire are Kelley Armstrong, Angela Knight, Nalini Singh :).

4. How susceptible are you to chocolate?

Very. I treat myself to a box from hotelchocolate about once every six weeks or so. It's my indulgence. I have to ration it, because I'm very susceptible to migraines.

5. Favorite book? Why?

Honestly. I'm not sure I could pick just one. I've done a top ten before and knew I left books that I loved out. Probably it would have to be The Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. (You think the number of times I've mentioned this book I would know how to type the author's name by now - but no.) I'm not sure that if she wrote anything else it would have the same impact on me, it's just that book. Henry and Clare's story has this heartbreaking inevitability to it.

For urban fantasy - Kelley Armstrong's Bitten. My favourite werewolf book. And re-reading it now, there are scenes when you want to pull Elena out of the book and say - don't do that - because as a reader you know what's going to happen. I don't think there's a wasted scene in that book.

An author who has never put a foot wrong for me is Wen Spencer. I've loved everything of hers that I've read. I like that until you start reading you're never sure what you're going to get. She always seems to be trying something new.

6. If you knew you were going to be stuck on a desert island, what three things would you take with you?

A satellite phone with battery so I could call for help - is that cheating? As I'm deathly afraid of flying it's unlikely to happen. Apart from the phone, paper and pens. So I'd have something to write/draw with whilst waiting for rescue.

7. What did you eat for breakfast?

Crunchy nut cornflakes.

8. How many books in your current to-be-read pile?

Which one? I have a big pile and a little pile. The little pile has the books I'm most interested in, there's about 40 books in it at the moment. The big pile has everything else, there's probably around 400 in it I think. Things tend to get put on there when the little pile falls over. I must stop buying books for three months and try and make some headway into the books I already have.

9. Describe your idea of a perfect hero.

For a long time Jamie from Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series was my idea of the perfect romantic hero. He didn't let Claire get away with anything, but he listened to her and sacrificed himself for her. I've not yet managed to finish the series, but I like that it carried on after they'd had the initial happily ever after.

Henry in TTTW, when I read about him in a way he replaced Jamie, because he was more real. He made terrible mistakes. But you never once doubted his love for Clare. I think to have to lie to her was almost a burden beyond bearing but he did it.

And my other favourite hero is Jeremy from Kelley Armstrong's Otherworld series. Probably why I love the character of Jaime so much, because she picked him over Clay too.

Hmmm. Looking at my choices I seem to have a preference for the strong (mentally), intellectual type. Who listens to the heroine, but won't let her walk all over him.

Monday, July 30, 2007

My trip to the US actually didn't start with the Dallas RWA Conference, but I figure that's what you guys most want to hear about, so here goes.One of the absolute highlights of the trip for me was getting to meet my agent, Nephele Tempest, and my editor, Cindy Hwang, in person. I adore them both, so it was such a blast hanging out with them before and during the conference.The first pic is of me and Cindy at the revolving restaurant at the top of the Reunion Tower in Dallas. Lunch was awesome but oh my gawd did that restaurant revolve fast! We could actually see it moving.

While I was in New York, I also met Leis Pederson, Cindy's assistant and acquiring editor. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera so my pictures of Leis are really tiny ones taken on my cellphone, which I shall post once I figure out how to download them from said phone.Next up is my photo with Nora Roberts (courtesy of Jane from Dear Author). See, I really did meet her! Needless to say, she was absolutely lovely.

I also ran into several of the Romance Divas in the goody room. Below is a shot of Dana, Jax, Eden Bradley, Gemma Halliday and Gena Showalter. Look at those beautiful smiles!

That night at the literacy signing, who should I be sitting next to but the talented Linnea Sinclair. Here we are with our mascots - hers is a furzel (a catlike creature from Games of Command) and mine is a kiwi.

During the signing, I met several readers of this blog and some of those people owe me photos. I'm waiting...

I also met the gorgeous and extremely nice Jane Porter that same night (just so you know that I didn't wear that shirt the whole conference *grin*).

More photos to come as I get them organized, but I'm also going to try and get the blog back on track, so the reader interviews will start up again tomorrow, followed by some catch-up things, and then I'll start bombarding you with photos once more.I have several of fellow bloggers, as well as other authors, which I know you guys will enjoy seeing!

Saturday, July 28, 2007

Just a quick post to say I'm back and trying to sort through the well over a thousand emails in my inbox (eek!). I somehow managed to stay almost internet-free in my travels, but now I must pay the price. So if you've contacted me over the past month and I haven't replied, I wasn't ignoring you - I was trying to see as much of the U.S. of A as possible (while eating the maximum amount of chocolate, of course).

Lots of pictures and good stuff to come. But first things first - who's still here? Say hi!

Sunday, July 01, 2007

The blog is going on vacation...because I'm heading off traveling. The official reopening of the blog will be August 1. However, knowing my internet addiction, I'll be checking in now and then with updates, so catch up with you then!

A NEW DAWN BEGINS FOR THE PSY-CHANGELING WORLD…

BECAUSE HAPPILY EVER AFTER DESERVES A SECOND CHANCE

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